Man charged with murder

Woman was found dead in bedroom of mobile home destroyed in blaze

Posted: Thursday, January 07, 1999

By Ben Deck and Greg MartinStaff Writers

Athens-Clarke police arrested a homeless man Wednesday evening on murder charges in the death of an Athens woman whose body was found in a burned-out mobile home near the intersection of Oglethorpe and Hawthorne avenues Monday night.

Robert Allen, 40, was charged with murder, felony murder and arson in the death of 40-year-old Carolyn Lawrence of 211 Gloria St., which is three blocks from the mobile home.

Allen and Lawrence had been staying at the trailer together, Clarke County Coroner Randy Garrett said Wednesday.

Felony murder is a charge lodged under state law when a murder is allegedly committed during the course of a felony -- in this case, arson.

Allen was picked up for questioning Wednesday by Athens-Clarke police, and was taken from the Lexington Road police station directly to the nearby Clarke County Jail after being charged, a police shift commander said Wednesday night.

Allen remained in the Clarke County Jail Thursday night awaiting a bond hearing.

An autopsy conducted at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab determined that Lawrence died in the fire, Garrett said Wednesday.

''She died in the trailer and was found in the rear bedroom on the floor,'' Garrett said. ''From looking at the trailer, this wasn't the first night they had been staying there. It appeared that they had been staying there for a while.''

The trailer was described by one nearby resident as a place where homeless people congregated.

Firefighters from Athens-Clarke County Fire Station 4, at the Hawthorne-Oglethorpe intersection about a block away from the mobile home, were alerted to the fire a few minutes after 11 p.m. Monday when someone knocked on the station door.